A brutal final week and a 40-kilometer time trial will mark the 2026 Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia is the second of the grand tours to present its route after the Tour de France 2026 was revealed more than a month ago. A race that, as is usually the case, features the longest stages, including an unusual bet on the time trial with a stage in the old-fashioned way, 40 kilometers to open up differences and force the climbers to give it their all in the tough final week.

Mountain and time trial compete for prominence in the route of the Giro d'Italia 2026

We now know the route of the Giro d'Italia 2026, which was presented today in Rome and will take place from May 8 to May 31. A Corsa Rosa that will have its Grande Partenza in Bulgaria, in the town of Nessebar, on the shores of the Black Sea, and will hold its first three stages in this country. The opening days will not have excessive difficulties beyond the 220 km of the second stage, which should not bring any significant movements in the general classification.

Once in Italian territory, the first decisive stage will arrive just in the seventh segment, on a day that ends at the tough Blockhaus. It would be just a small touchstone to make the first differences if it weren't for a small detail: 246 kilometers that will produce tremendous fatigue and could lead to significant differences on the slopes of the mythical pass, and as is often said, we may not know here who will win the Giro d'Italia 2026, but surely some of the favorites will lose all their chances. This first week will conclude with a new uphill finish after a single-pass stage in Corno alla Scale.

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The second week will start with the aforementioned 40-kilometer time trial between Viareggio and Massa, completely flat, ideal for a ¿Remco Evenepoel? to gain a quantifiable time difference ahead of the upcoming mountains. This leaves us with a Giro d'Italia in the old-fashioned way, with specialists in individual time trials having the terrain to gain time on their rivals but having to defend every second with a calculator in the extremely tough mountain stages that remain until the end of the race.

A second week that will culminate with a weekend where the peloton will face a very tough stage in the Aosta Valley. Just 133 kilometers but with 5 consecutive climbs, including the finish in Pila. The weekend closes with a flat stage finishing in Milan, which once again gives prominence to the Lombard city, a former regular finish of the race that has been forgotten by the Giro d'Italia for several years now.

The menu for the third week starts with a new uphill finish that comes after a medium mountain route with four climbs before the finish in Carì, although it is an unusually short stage for what the Giro d'Italia usually offers, with just 113 kilometers.

The climax will be experienced in stages 19 and 20. The first of them, a true Dolomitic stage with the mythical names of this region: Passo Duran, Coi, Forcella Staulanza, the terrible Passo Giau, Falzarego, and also finishing uphill at Piani di Pezè. The dessert, a 200 km stage with a fairly simple design: flat and a final stretch where two consecutive climbs to Piancavallo are chained.

A Giro d'Italia with a good balance between mountain and time trial, perhaps giving more prominence to the latter but concentrating a lot of toughness on very specific days of climbs to avoid overloading many consecutive days of ascents that ultimately condition the development of the race. And, as has been discussed in recent days, a Giro d'Italia that seems designed to tempt Remco Evenepoel to participate due to the great possibilities the time trial offers him to have a good cushion ahead of the mountains.

The Colle delle Finestre will be the judge of the Giro d'Italia women's race

On the last weekend of the men's Giro d'Italia, the women's race will start on May 30. A race that will consist of 9 stages, among which the time trial of the 4th stage, a time trial climb to Nevegal, and the journey through the Dolomites in the 5th segment stand out.

However, the decisive stage will be the 8th, practically a copy of the queen stage of the men's Giro 2025, that is, a short stage with Colle delle Finestre and a finish in Sestriere to decide the race.